Together Again
by evanescentflame421
Summary: Halloween Special! 3-shot. Gwen leaves, and after ten years, comes back to keep a promise. Inspired by the song 'Together Again' by Evanescence. I do not own the song, or anything Total Drama.
1. Chapter 1

**Together Again**

**Chapter 1**

She let out a sigh once she was safely inside of the town she'd left behind years ago. Actually, the town she was dragged away from. Ten years ago almost down to the hour.

**_*Flashback*_**

An eight-year-old Gwen ran down the stairs dressed in her little angel costume. "Mommy!" she yells as she turns into the kitchen. She stops in her tracks once she sees the man who she considered her worst enemy. Even at such a young age she knew that things were better without him there. He turns his attention to her. "Mommy, what's _he_ doing here?" she asked giving the man the best glare an eight year-old could possibly give.

It was then that her mother let out the most mournful sound she'd ever heard, as the tears started to run down her face.

"Damn it, Amy! You're still lying to me after all these years?" the man asked angrily.

"I never lied to you!" Gwen's mother snapped back at him.

"You never lied to me? You just said Gwen wasn't home! Where's Dylan?"

"He's with his school, on a fieldtrip. He won't be back for a few days," the tiny angel answered as she made her way towards her mother. She hugged her and tried to get her to stop crying, but this only made her mother sob more. "Mommy, what's he doing here?" Gwen asked with a hint of anxiety in her voice.

"Da-Daddy said he c-came to get you and-and Dylan. He wants you to go live with him."

"What?" Gwen breathed.

**_*End Flashback*_**

A tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered that day. Her father took her away, warning her mother not to call the cops. If she did he would crash the car, or drive it off a cliff or something that guaranteed they'd both die.

Of course later that night her mother did call the cops. She couldn't just let her ex take away her child. Unfortunately the cops couldn't find them.

Now after ten years Gwen was back in her home town. The different colored leaves blanketed the ground. Little children already running around in their little costumes, despite the fact that it was only noon. It reminded her of the reason she was back, despite for the obvious reason of escape.

_***Flashback***_

The doorbell rang as Gwen's father finished warning her mother about the cops.

"Go answer the door," he ordered Amy. "If you tell them I'm here I'll kill Gwen right here and now."

She jumped off of the chair and wiped away the tears. She tried to compose herself as she walked out of the room.

After a few minutes Amy returned. "Gwen, Duncan's at the door. He wants to see you."

The tiny Gwen looked up at her father. "I'm going to talk to Duncan. I'm going to tell him that I'm leaving and won't be back. I won't tell him you're here." Before she left the room she shot another glare back at him. "Don't hurt my mommy."

She ran to the front door and hugged her best friend dressed in a little Jason costume, holding the mask in his hands. Before she pulled away she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Without giving him a chance to react she began talking. "Duncan, I'm leaving and I won't be back for a long time."

He blinked and then gave her a confused look. "What? Why? Where are you going? How long will you be gone? Will you come back to visit? Gwen you can't leave!" The eight year old Duncan hugged his best friend and squeezed her as tight as her could.

"Duncan," she lowered her voice, "my dad is here and he's taking me away. If Mommy calls the cops he'll kill me. If he hears me telling you that he's here, he'll kill me. There's nothing I can do. I need to get him away from my mommy and get him away from here before Dylan comes back."

He looked angry, and then his expression turned sad. "But, I'm going to miss you."

Gwen started to cry. "I'll miss you too." She wrapped her arms around his little torso and buried her face in his chest.

"Gwen, look at me." She silently obeyed. "When you turn eighteen, come back. You'll be a grown-up and he can't stop you."

"But what if you move, or something?"

Duncan thought quietly for a moment. "Come back on Halloween. That way you won't have to look for me, and if I move away I can come back too. We can meet under the old oak tree where we like to play. We can meet there at midnight. Since we'll be old, we'll be allowed to go out that late. We probably won't be tired either, because we can drink that coffee stuff that our parents always drink."

"Duncan, that's ten years away, are you sure you can remember? You can barely remember to put on clean underwear in the morning."

"That only happened once." She gave him a look. "Okay, so it happened eleven-ty times, but that doesn't matter! I'll remember!"

"Promise?" she asked holding out her pinky.

"Promise," he said wrapping his slightly bigger one around hers.

She walked him to the door and opened it. As he began walking down the porch steps Gwen began closing the door. Before he hopped off the last step he turned around and called her name.

"Yeah?"

Duncan hesitated for a moment and then dropped his head and mumbled something.

"What?"

The blushing eight-year-old looked up and said a little louder, "I said, I-I love you." He then jumped off the last step and ran off.

_***End Flashback***_

She turned onto a small street and began scanning the houses. Once she spotted the one she was looking for she pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. It took all of her willpower to not just burst through the doors and start crying. She walked up the familiar porch steps and rang the doorbell.

Within seconds it was open with a middle aged woman with brown curly hair in the doorway. She was wearing kitty-ears and had face paint all over her. Gwen couldn't help but smile. She should've expected her to be wearing something like that.

The woman, in turn, observed the young lady who was standing on her porch. She saw the dark clothing, dyed hair, and teal lipstick accompanied by the dark eyeliner, but paid no mind to it. Beyond that she saw the shape of her face, her pale complexion, the small smile, her expressive eyes, but most of all, the fire burning deep down inside of her.

She took a step towards her. "Gwen," she breathed. It was no question, she knew her daughter.

Gwen rubbed her arm sheepishly and gave her another small smile. "Hi, Mom."

**...**

**_A/N: So how will Gwen's mother handle her being back again? What about her brother? Will Duncan remember the promise that they made years ago? Fret not, since this is a three-shot the next chapter should be up tonight, and the final tomorrow. _**


	2. Chapter 2

**Together Again  
****  
Chapter 2**

Amy took another step towards her daughter and swept her up in a warm, suffocating embrace. She started to cry as she pulled away and pulled Gwen inside of the home she was taken away from. She took her into the kitchen and then Gwen's mom yelled for little brother, who is now sixteen, and told him to hurry down.

They heard his footsteps and him complaining about being interuppted while on the phone when her saw Gwen. He stopped talking and moving for a second. He kept his gaze on her as he took a few uncertain steps. "Gwen?" he asked. She noticed how deep his voice had gotten, and how tall too. He still had some of the boyish features that she remembered from when they were younger, but he had lost his baby fat and had evidence of facial hair.

Gwen could barely whisper his name as she walked over to him. Her mother hadn't aged much, but her baby brother certainly had. She hugged him and felt his tears fall onto her shoulder. Then she felt her mother move next to them and wrap her arms around them both, having her family complete after so long.

…

Gwen spent the next few hours with her mother and brother trying to cover years of experiences passed. Gwen learned that her mother had got a promotion and didn't have to work weekends anymore. Her brother was in the top ten percent of his class, and was currently struggling in chemistry. She also learned that he had his own band, and that he was the lead guitarist. They talked about Gwen's plans for the future, and of course what happened in her past.

"Before I left I called the cops on him. They should be contacting us as soon as they file him into their system."

They were silent. Relief washed over them because they knew that the ten-year nightmare has finally ended.

Glancing at the clock Amy said that she'd make Gwen some food before the trick-or-treaters started showing up. This would be their first complete family meal in a long time.

"I'll help you cook Mom, just let me go get my costume from my car."

….

"That was fucking awesome!" Duncan yelled as he stuck his head out of the window of his friend's car, and yanking off his dirty, slightly burning hockey mask. They'd just finished trashing the house of Chris McLean, a guy that all of the teenagers hated.

"Duncan, dude, I gotta say that this has been the best prank that we pulled in years. I wonder how he's gonna react one he realizes Gerard is just a dude." Mike said.

"I hope Gerard takes a picture," Frank added.

They'd created a fake email account and began messaging Chris, pretending to be a hot girl. They then planned a date for tonight with him. Gerard was going to show up for the date in a mini-dress and a blonde wig, meanwhile Duncan, Frank, Mikey, and Bob trashed his place.

"Duncan, it's good to have you outta Juvie. Thank God they can't hold you past your eighteenth birthday."

That's right Duncan, son of the chief of police, was a juvenile delinquent. Duncan had always been a little troublemaker, but when he was eight his behavior got more rebellious. Duncan had gotten mad at his father and the other cops for not being able to save his best friend from being taken by her father. He believed that they could have brought her back, but that they didn't try hard enough. As a result, Duncan decided to give the towns police hell by breaking laws. And to further piss off his father he dyed his hair, and got several piercings.

The group pulled onto the side of the street and parked outside of the house were the a buddy of theirs lived. Every year he threw a huge Halloween bash, and every year they got wasted and crashed at Gerard and Mikey's house. When they got out of the car they saw Gerard standing there in his min-dress and stilettos.

"Dude! That was the funniest shit ever! He screamed like the girl I was dressed up as! I took a bunch of pictures and a video on my phone." They flipped through the pictures and after the watched the video, and almost started crying from laughter.

"You ready to do this?" Bob asked.

"You know it," Gerard said, "I'm gonna score me some major numbers with this outfit," he said moving his hands down his figure.

"Nuh-uh you're going home with me tonight." Frank told Gerard, just playing around.

They all started laughing. "You guys are such fags," Duncan said while walking into the house.

"Someone's jealous!" Bob said, as the rest followed him in.

"Eat it," Duncan retorted.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Mike asked.

…

They'd been at the party for a few hours and all the guys were already trashed. Gerard was making out with some chick bassist who just started up a band, Frank was dancing with a couple of girls, Bob was making out with a couple of girls, and Mikey was… eating cookies? Duncan was the only one who wasn't completely intoxicated, in fact he hadn't touched a drink all night. He'd been ignoring all of the girls who approached him and got a nervous feeling in his gut. As the time passed on more girls came on to him.

There was one girl who was especially persistent, and slightly tipsy. She was dressed in a poofy gown and had a tiara on her head. When Duncan couldn't get her to stop talking he pulled on his mask and walked away. The "princess" wouldn't be shaken off that easily though, she followed him around the party, making him offers that most other guys would jump at. He looked at the door and then at his cell phone.

He turned around to face her and she gave him a flirty look. "Look Princess, it's been fun, but I got somewhere to be." And with that he made his way out of the house and towards the park where the old oak tree was.

**...**

**_A/N: Here's part two. I'll give a cookie to anyone who figures out where I got the names for Duncan's buddies. Nat, if you don't know I'll kick your butt._**


	3. Chapter 3

**Together Again**

**Chapter 3**

Gwen walked out of her house with the most terrible feeling in her gut. So many fears were swimming around and around in her mind. She knew that there was a very real possibility that Duncan had left her in the past and moved on with his life. She knew that her hopes would be shattered and her heart broken if he didn't show up. Her mother had told her that Duncan and his family still lived in their house that they lived in for more than the last twenty years. They first moved in when Duncan's parents got married. If he didn't show up she could always go to his house. But then again, if he didn't show up she might nor want to see him.

She made it to the oak tree, guided by the moonlight, and stood waiting. She looked around at the old park that she was in. Not much had really changed. They fixed a swing that had been broken when she left and added a couple of more slides. She could still remember running around and playing there with Duncan. She remembered him pushing a guy off of the swing and the kicking sand in his face for saying something mean about her.

She was pulled away from her memories when she saw a man in Jason costume approaching her.

…

As he got nearer to the tree he saw a tiny winged figure standing there. The moon reflected off of her pale skin and her dress was a beautiful contrast to her skin. He saw the tiny thing staring at something, the swing set. He recalled the day he pushed another little boy off of one. He told Gwen it was because the little boy had said something mean about her, but truthfully, it was because the little boy said he had a crush on her.

He took faster and larger steps towards the girl until he was right in front of her.

…

The stared at each other for a moment.

Gwen touched his now damaged mask and smiled. "It looks like Jason grew up." She took the mask off of his face and caresses his cheek. "Nice piercing."

He looked at her. "It looks like the angel has fallen." He stared at her black, wilting wings and her black and teal dress. "Nice makeup."

She wrapped her tiny arms around his torso and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

He pulled her closer and rested his chin above her head.

"I missed you," they said at the same time.

She looked up at him. "I was afraid that you wouldn't show. It's been so long. I thought you forgot about me."

"Gwendolyn Lee Hartzler, there has not been a day that's passed by that I haven't thought about you. Time doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're together again."

"Maybe this time we can leave a broken world behind."

"I'm so happy that you came home. I'm so grateful that your still alive. Do you know what I think brought you back to me?"

"The promise that I made to you?"

"Not just that. It was deeper than just a promise made to a best friend. I think that love brought you back home to me, back home to us."

She was silent for a moment. "The thought of returning to you was the only thing that kept me going these last ten years. So many times I've felt like just giving up. I'd be feeling alone, and then I'd think of you, and all I knew was that I had to get back to you. That gave me the strength I needed to survive. When I saw you walking away I felt my heart break. I felt so much for you when we were younger. More than I thought an eight-year-old could ever feel. It's crazy, but I think the love of two eight-year-olds pulled me through."

"I still love you Gwen," he mumbled as he blushed.

"Are you going to run away now?" Gwen asked teasingly.

"No!" he said with a slight pout.

"Good, now I have the chance to say what I couldn't say back then. I love you too."

He cupped her face and leaned in. Their lips touched and everything else melted away. The world, the people, the ten years that separated them, all seemed to fade away.

All that mattered was that they were in each other's arms after they'd been torn apart, together again.

**...**

_**A/N: Yeah so I think I went a little overboard with the "together again" thing. Oh well. Here you go! It is now 12:30 AM so Happy Halloween my loves!**_

_**Oh and VivaLaBoheme1995 gets a cookie! You are so smart! **_

_**Well I am tired, and I have to take 6 little demons trick-or-treating later so goodnight. **_

_**I hope you enjoyed. :)**_


End file.
